US gives $26.5 million to boost Philippine counterterrorism efforts

As a “proud ally” of the Philippines, the US said it would “continue to provide whole-of-government support and assistance to the country’s counterterrorism efforts as both sides work together to address shared threats”.

The United States government has announced it will provide $26.5 million to enhance counterterrorism efforts in the Philippines.

According to the US Embassy in Manila, the assistance will include “training, equipment, and other support to build comprehensive law enforcement capacity within a rule of law framework to deny terrorist operations, funding, and movement”.

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In a message posted on Twitter, US Ambassador Kim Sung said: “I am proud to announce that the United States will contribute 1.418 billion pesos over the next two years to boost counterterrorism support for Philippine law enforcement agencies.”

The same financial assistance — which will be given over the next two years — will also be used to investigate and prosecute terrorism cases and to counter-radicalisation programmes.

Ambassador Kim added that the joint effort to confront shared threats to peace and security of both countries was “another powerful example of the depth and breadth of our relationship as friends, partners, and allies.”

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Under President Duterte’s administration, the US government has given more than 730 million pesos to the Philippines to support the rehabilitation of Marawi City following the attack by the Maute group in May last year.

In a separate statement, the US Embassy said: “This support for non-military rule-of-law approaches to addressing terrorist threats will complement our sustained commitment to building the counterterrorism capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”

As a “proud ally” of the Philippines, the US said it would “continue to provide whole-of-government support and assistance to the country’s counterterrorism efforts as both sides work together to address shared threats to the peace and security of the two countries”.